SHANGHAI (REUTERS) - New non-performing loans (NPL) held by Chinese banks more than doubled in 2015 from the previous year, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The NPLs in China's banking sector increased 257.4 billion yuan (S$56.28 billion) to 1.43 trillion yuan during 2014, suggesting that new NPLs surged more than 500 billion yuan last year.

The people, who declined to be identified because they were not allowed to speak to the media, told Reuters that total NPLs reached 1.95 trillion yuan in 2015.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission did not respond to Reuters' request for comment.